


No Regrets

by Skara_Brae



Category: Death in Paradise
Genre: Expect not..., F/M, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:00:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skara_Brae/pseuds/Skara_Brae
Relationships: Neville Parker/Florence Cassell
Comments: 16
Kudos: 54





	No Regrets

“Are you sure you’re ready to go back to work?”

Florence sighed. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and pasted on a sunny smile.

“Of course I am. I am in excellent shape, working with my trainer, talking to my therapist, meditating daily. I am as ready now as I ever will be.”

Corinne shook her head. Florence’s older cousin was always overprotective. Her brown eyes were filled with concern. “I just think you should take more time.”

Florence shook her head. “How much more time could I take? I am lucky they are letting me come back as a DS. I should have been back long before this.”

Corinne’s mouth tightened. But before she could say anything, her younger sister piped in.

“Are you dating anyone, Florence?”

Corinne gasped. “How could you say such a thing? She’s practically a widow.”

Estella rolled her eyes. “Practically a widow. Not a widow. Or dead.” She drained the last of her cocktail. The glass hit the table with a bang. “She needs to get back to living her life.

“I am living my life,” Florence protested.

“Living like a nun.” Estella reached across the table and took Florence’s hand. “You know Patrice wouldn’t want you to mourn him forever. He’d want you to be happy.

“I know that.” Florence sighed ruefully. “But I am not ready for another relationship right now.”

“Okay, so not a relationship. Maybe you just need to have sex.”

Corinne looked even more scandalized. “I was never much for casual sex even back in my younger days,” Florence said.

“Yes, that’s why you should start now. At least once. The longer you wait, the bigger a deal it’s going to be. And then when you want to sleep with someone you like, you’ll be thinking of other things the whole time.” She nodded sagely. “Better to get it over with now, with someone you’ll never see again.”

“Estella, you are terrible,” Corinne sniffed.

“Come on.” Estella nudged Florence with her elbow. “All of the beautiful men in Barbados. You could have your pick.”

“So I should just pick up a random man, and take him to bed?” Florence asked. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea. No sex is better than bad sex.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s bad sex.” Estella shook her head. “What matters is it is out there… Over with. You need to rip the band-aid off. Stop being this wounded creature and start being a woman again.”

“I’ll take it under advisement.” Florence said. She took a drink of her beer. Really, her cousins were too much. One advising her to delay going back to work, and the other suggesting she jump into bed with the next man she met. She sighed inwardly. Did she really still seem wounded? That was not the vibe she wanted to give off when she went back to Saint Marie.

She sat back in her chair and looked over the harbor. It was beautiful here, and, aside from her cousins, no one knew her tragic story. She was finding it nice, being so anonymous. but she did have to get back to her life.

“When are you headed back to Ste. Marie?” Corrinne asked.

“Saturday,” Florence said. “And I report to the office on Monday.” It would not give her much time to get settled, but she figured that would be best. She wanted to be busy.

“We’ll have to have brunch on Friday then.” Corinne declared. “I’ll make a reservation at the Royal Star.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Florence smiled, and finished her drink.

*^*

Two days later, Florence found herself with a free evening. Estella was working, and Corinne was volunteering with her church. She had asked Florence to come with her, but she had declined with an excuse about maybe meeting some old friends.

Instead, she wandered into the touristy area downtown. There was a cruise ship in the harbor, so there were many extra people on top of the usual hustle and bustle of the area. She looked in a few of the shops; mostly peddling overpriced junk to people who didn’t know better. She strolled along with no destination in mind. After a while, she found she had wandered out of the tourist area and into a confluence of hotels and conference centers. She was about to turn around and head back when the sign caught her attention. The Elephant and Castle. She could see it was kind of a faux-English style pub attached to one of the hotels. The sign made her smile, and think about Humphrey. She hoped he was happily sitting in a similar one in London right now. On impulse, she decided to go in.

A blast of freezing air greeted her as she pulled open the door. It made her shiver. Why on earth, she wondered, to people come to the Caribbean from all over the world just to sit in icy air-conditioned spaces? The interior was all dark wood, and upholstered furnishings. She would have never guessed that outside this staid interior there was a warm, summer night full of music and laughter.

She took a seat at the bar. It was not crowded, and the bartender came over immediately. She ordered a cocktail. One drink, she thought to herself, then I’ll head back. The bartender brought her drink, and they engaged in some banal chat for a few moments before he was called away. She looked over at the other patrons of the bar. There was a loud group of people sitting at one of the tables in the back. Two women, Americans by their accents, several seats to her right were engaged in a heated, whispered conversation. The only other person at the bar was a man with dark hair who was pouring over a bunch of papers.

Florence sipped her drink slowly, and let her mind wander. A large group of people came and settled at the end of the bar. The man moved down to accommodate them, so there was now only one seat between them.

Suddenly there was a tap at her shoulder. When she turned, a familiar face was standing next to her.

“Florence, I thought that was you. How are you?”

“Charlie? Oh, how nice to see you.” She hopped out of her seat and hugged him. He had graduated from the police academy with her, but she hadn’t seen him in years. “Are you living here now?”

“Grand Turk. I am just in town for a conference.” Then, to her surprise, he turned to the man next to her. “Inspector Parker, I enjoyed your presentation today.”

The man – Parker, apparently, smiled and extended his hand for Charlie to shake. “I appreciated your input.”

Charlie turned back to Florence. “So where are you working now?”

She did not want to get into that. “I took some time off. Are you a DI now?”

“Just last month.” Charlie beamed proudly as she congratulated him.

The group in the back called his name. “Anyway, I’ve got to go, but it was great seeing you, Florence. We’ll have to catch up soon.”

She smiled and waved as he headed back to the group in the back. As she turned, she exchanged an awkward smile with the other man. Curious, she picked up one of the papers he had scattered on the bar. It was a PowerPoint slide.

“Challenges in combating crime in high tourism areas” She read. “It sounds interesting.”

“It is, really. But of course, every here already knows how hard their jobs are. Bit silly really. This presentation was designed for the higher-ups back in London. But they had a slot to fill in this conference so they sent me to fill it. I am sure my boss wanted to get me out of his hair for a few days. Well, not that he has hair, but still…”

She laughed, and sat back in her seat. “Well, I suppose there are worse places to be sent.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “That’s true.”

He was definitely English. His accent wasn’t quite as posh sounding as Humphrey’s had been, but it was unmistakable.

“So how have you enjoyed Barbados?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s lovely, really.” The man scratched absently at the back of his neck.

“When are you headed home?”

“Tomorrow morning.” He swallowed the little beer that was left in his glass. “Would you like another drink?” he asked her, hesitatingly.

Florence paused. Of course, this wasn’t the first time since Patrice’s death that a man had tried to chat her up or buy her a drink, but… this felt different. Estella’s words, unbidden, came into her head. _Stop being this wounded creature and start being a woman again._

“Yes,” she said brightly. “I’d love one.”

He caught the bartender’s attention and gestured for another round. He turned back to her, and asked “How do you know DI Brown?... Charlie, that is.”

“We went to school together,” Florence replied simply. She really didn’t want to discuss her career. “It was a long time ago.”

After their new drinks had arrived, Florence said. “So tell me about where you are from. England, correct?”

“Yes. Manchester.”

“I’ve been to London once,” she said. “But I have never been there.”

He laughed. “You’d have no reason to. It’s in the north”

She sipped her drink. “But what’s it like? Being a detective there...”

After some probing questions on her part, he entertained her with a few funny stories, and attempted to describe the local scenery and points of interest. He seemed like a nice man. He wasn’t bad looking, and as different from Patrice as he could be. She laughed and asked questions. He answered them, but, for some reason, seemed increasingly befuddled as they went on.

“What is it?” she finally asked.

“I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

She squirmed a bit in her seat, but said, “Of course. What do you want to know?”

“Well,” He took another pull of his beer. “I guess I am wondering what you want from me.”

She blinked.

He went on. “I mean, I know I am nowhere near as interesting as your rapt attention for the last thirty minutes would suggest.”

Oh. Busted.

“Okay,” she said. “Cards on the table. I was wondering if you might want to have sex… With me,” She added unnecessarily.

He stared at her.

“I mean, I am not looking for anything serious. And you are leaving tomorrow, so I think we could have a good time tonight. What do you think?”

He closed his eyes and then opened them again very slowly. He met her questioning gaze. “Well, yes… I mean, Sure.”

It was not the most enthusiastic answer she ever had, but at least it was a yes.

“Great,” she said brightly, and finished her drink.

He was still staring at her. “Is this a rebound thing?” he asked. “Did you just have a bad breakup or something?”

“Or something,” she agreed. There was no way she was going to tell him her tragic story. “Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean… its fine with me.”

“Great,” she said again. “Do you have a room in the Grand?” She referred to the large hotel just across the street.

“Oh no.” He laughed. “They’d never put me up there. I’m in the efficiency motel down the street.”

She drained the last of her drink and gave him a telling look. He pulled his wallet out and handed his card over to the bartender, then began stuffing his papers into a backpack he had hanging on the back of his chair. Once the bill was taken care of, they stood. He pulled the backpack onto his shoulders, giving him the air of an overgrown schoolboy. Kind of dorky, she thought as she took his arm.

Once they were outside in the warm night air, he hesitated. “Well, there is just one thing you should know--“

Florence’s stomach dropped. “Oh god, you’re not married, are you?” That would be her luck lately, propositioning a married man. Causal sex she could do, but she drew the line at infidelity.

“No. No. Nothing like that. I am single. So single, in fact, I really wasn’t prepared for anything like..” He gestured between them. ”This.”

“Prepared?” she repeated, not comprehending.

“I don’t have…Anything.” At her blank look, he cleared his throat and said, “Condoms” in a low voice.

Her relief was palpable. “Oh,” she said, taking his arm again. “There’s a shop just across the street.”

_*_

They bought condoms and a couple of beers. They opened their drinks as they slowly walked down the near-deserted streets towards his motel. Most of the crowds were in the busier part of town. He absently squatted at a few mosquitoes as they walked, but otherwise they were mostly silent.

The motel definitely had no frills. Florence walked in and looked around while Parker stripped off the backpack and kicked off his shoes. The furniture was mismatched, but clean. There was a bed, dresser, chair and a small coffee table. The bed was a nice four-poster, freshly turned down with white linens and a blue coverlet. Staring at it, Florence had a momentary qualm. Was she really about to do this?

Parker had stepped into the bathroom for a moment and then emerged and hastily shut the door. He crossed the room until he was next to her.

She turned to him, not sure what she was about to say. He was standing much closer to her than she had realized. When she met his eyes, he kissed her. It was a nice kiss, firm but not hard with just the right amount of tongue. Her hesitation melted away. He hands found their way to her waist. It felt good, being back in a man’s arms. She was an object of desire again, rather than one of pity. She moaned into his mouth as she tugged his shirt up and out of his trousers. His hands kneaded her hips gently as he pulled their bodies closer together.

After a few minutes like that, he bent his head lower and began kissing her neck.

They stayed like that for a while before he murmured, “On the bed.” He began unbuttoning his shirt.

She untied the wrap of her dress and it draped it over the back of a side chair. She climbed up on the bed and stretched out on the bed, her head resting on one of the pillows. She was just wearing a bandeau bra, just a stretchy bit of fabric around her breasts and a pair of lace panties.

He stared at her for a moment. “My, you are lovely,” he said before climbing onto the bed beside her. They kissed and he dropped his lips down to her neck and then lower.

She stretched her hands up over her head as he moved his lips down her neck. She waited for him to pull down the fabric of her bra, but he surprised her by instead mouthing her breasts through the thin fabric.

She gasped in surprise as his lips closed around her left nipple. His tongue teased it into hardness. She moaned and arched her back. Her hands gripped his shoulders. He was in no hurry to move on. He moved over, nuzzling into the valley between her breasts, before directing his attention to its neglected twin.

After several long moments, she had finally had enough of his teasing. Apparently, it was going to be up to her to move them along. With a frustrated huff, she moved back. Then she reached down and pulled her bra off over her head. It was a slightly awkward movement, but she finally got it off and tossed it on the floor. He gave a quiet laugh. He brought his hands to be breasts this time, caressing her nipples with his thumbs before dropping his head again, finally, treating her to the satisfying feeling of his lips on her skin.

His unwavering attention to her breasts lasted much longer than she expected, and she threaded her fingers through his hair in an attempt to urge him on. She could feel him smile into her skin. His hand slid down the flat plane of her stomach and into her panties. His fingers stroked the folds of her sex gently while he pressed his face into her neck.

It was not long before she was raising her hips, pushing herself against his hand. She was making soft noises that might have been pleas.

“Do you like this?” he asked, before taking one of her nipples into his mouth again and sucking hard. She made a soft broken sound, and then, as an answer, tightened her grip in his hair and dragged him upwards to kiss him. Their mouths met in an overeager clash of teeth, but they quickly found the right angle. He continued to stroke her as they kissed, pausing briefly as she lifted her legs and tugged her panties off.

She turned back to him, eager to pick up where they had left off, but something else had caught his eye. His fingers brushed across the scar on her stomach.

“What happened here?” he asked.

There was no way she was going to tell him. “Appendix removal,” she lied breathlessly, praying for him to move on.

“That’s not where--” She didn’t let him finish. She pulled him close and covered his lip with hers again.

His hand went back between her legs. He stroked her gently for a few more minutes, then changed the angle of his hand and pressed one long finger inside her. A gush of moisture welcomed this gesture. She moaned, loudly, into his mouth. He added another finger and began to gently slide them in and out of her.

She bent one of her knees to give him better access. He pulled away to watch his fingers slide in and out of her. His expression was rapt. Her breath came in short pants and her hips rocked against his hand. She could feel the pleasure building inside her. Then, he crooked his fingers inside of her while pressing his thumb down on her clit. Her inner muscles clenched.

“Oh!” she cried out, her back arching as the pleasure washed through her.

When she opened her eyes, his eyes were on her face, and she felt herself flush even more than she already was.

“You are really, most amazingly beautiful,” he said.

She sat up and kissed him. She ran her hands down the front of his pants, feeling his erection. She popped the button and pulled down his fly before he stopped her hand and stepped back, off the bed. . She watched him pull the box of condoms out of his pocket. She took them from him and opened one while he stripped off the rest of his clothes.

She helped him roll it on. She expected him to climb back on the bed, but he surprised her by gripping her hips and dragging her to the end of the mattress. He propped her feet up on this shoulders. She bit her lip. This position was not what she had expected.

“Is this okay?” he asked. His hands kneaded the muscles in her thighs

She nodded. She felt more open and exposed that she had expected. He moved one of his hands to her hip and the other guided him to her entrance. He dragged the tip through her wet folds, making her whimper.

“Ready?”

“Uh-huh.” She propped herself up on her elbows and watched as he pressed himself inside her. It was gentle and slow. One he was all the way in, he paused.

“Do you like that?” he asked.

She whimpered and nodded. He moved his hands to her waist and began to move.

He moved slowly. She closed her eyes, slumped back and let herself drift in the pleasurable sensations. They were quiet, aside from the wet noises of their coupling. She bit her lip, trying to keep herself from moaning. This was strange… her body’s response after so long. She shuddered gently, feeling every thrust inside of her. His pace was gentle, his movements deliberate and controlled.

After a while, she raised herself up again. She watched him, entranced somehow, by a small drop of sweat slowly moving from his temple down the plains of his face. His eyes were half closed. He dug his hands into the muscles of her upper thighs, gently kneading them as his drove into her.

Pleasure swept through her again. Her head fell back while her toes curled against his shoulders. She cried out as her inner muscles convulsed. He slowed his pace a bit. Then he pulled out of her and pushed her legs over to the side.

“Move up,” he ordered, rolling her onto her front and urging her further up on the bed.

Still dazed, she complied. She crawled up over the coverlet, vaguely aware of him moving behind her. He moved her into the position he wanted, on her knees and elbows, and then pressed himself inside her again. His hands dug into her hips with bruising force as he thrust into her again. This time it was hard and fast. She dropped her forehead to the mattress and didn’t even try to stop the noises she was making.

Finally, with one thrust, her knees gave out and her whole body dropped to the mattress. She was dimly aware his hands had moved off her hips. She heard him groan, and then felt a warm wetness on her lower back. She moaned as she realized her had just come all over her. He dropped down on the bed beside her, his chest heaving. They laid there for a few long moments, her body still shuddering occasionally, until his heavy breathing took on a wheezing quality which concerned her.

Are you okay?” she asked, concerned. She raised her head to look at him.

He barked out what she thought was a laugh, but could have been an ill-timed wheeze. But he got up and went into the bathroom. He returned a moment later, dabbing something wet and cool over her lower back.

She should get up and get dressed, she thought. But he pulled the coverlet up over them and threw an arm over her waist. One more minute, she thought, as sleep dragged her under.

*^*

She woke up alone in the bright sunshine. Alarmed for a moment, she sat up, clutching the blankets to her breasts. It was only a few seconds before she remembered where she was. She glanced around the room, taking in the hand luggage sitting by the door as well as the box of condoms on the bedside table before seeing her dress, still draped over the chair where she had put it last night. Before she could move toward it, the bathroom door opened and Parker came out. He was fully dressed, the dorky backpack already on his back.

He seemed surprised to see her awake.

“Oh, hello,” he said, putting a toiletry kit in his suitcase. “Uh, I need to get to the airport.”

She nodded. The atmosphere is the room was highly awkward. It seemed they both were not used to situations like this.

“Um, the room is paid up till eleven, so… take your time.”

“Okay,” she said. “Have a good flight.”

“Thanks.”

He turned, as if to leave, then suddenly turned back and walked to the bed. It wasn’t much of a kiss, just a closed mouth pressing of lips, but there was something in it, or maybe the look in his eyes just before, that caused a funny little pang in Florence’s chest.

“Thank you,” he said. Then he turned and left.

Florence slumped back against the sheets. She waited a moment for the shame, or the guilt, or grief to rise up in her. But there was nothing. She felt… good. Well, a bit sore. She winced as she got to her feet, but otherwise amazingly okay. She smiled to herself as she showered and dressed. Well, that was certainly an experience she hadn’t expected, but overall, she had no regrets.


End file.
